CZ S805 rifle : Coming to a store near you? Maybe!

Last week the IDET military expo was held at the famous arms manufacturing town of Brno, Czech Republic. I had been looking forward to the expo for some time because CZ announced they would have their new rifle military arms on display. Developed in conjunction with the Czech Army, the new CZ S 805 assault rifle looks like a solid addition to the range of “3rd generation” (I use this term lightly) 5.56mm military rifles.

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Adamicz. Used with Permission.

The model pictured above, the CZ S805A, is the standard assault rifle/carbine model and interestingly enough has a 14.5″ barrel compared to the 16″ or 18″ barrels of similar rifles. Although it has been designed so it can be converted into a light machine gun or designated/squad marksmen rifle.

While it appears to be another plastic fantastic, it in fact has an aluminum receiver. The rifle is chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO but by changing the bolt head, magazine, magazine well and barrel it can also be chambered in 7.62x39mm and 6.8 mm Remington SPC (6.8x43mm). The trigger group, as you can see below, allows the selection of fully automatic, two round burst, and single shot modes.

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Adamicz. Used with Permission.

Like all modern military rifles it is out fitted with a folding/adjustable stock and quad rails. The transparent magazine is a nice touch but is not STANAG (M16) compatible.

According to REMOV CZ plan on producing a semi-automatic model for the US and European civilian market Hopefully legalities and politics do not prevent it from showing up in a store near you.

Many thanks to Adamicz for providing me with photos and credit for the information goes to REMOV

Founder and Dictator-In-Chief of TFB. A passionate gun owner, a shooting enthusiast and totally tacti-uncool. Favorite first date location: any gun range. Steve can be contacted here.

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Fred

I’m not too hot on that stock style myself, but the rest of it looks interesting.

I still don’t understand the sharp side up style of bayonet either, even though a good chunk of my rifles are that way too.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com Steve

the bayo was designed as survival knife that double as a bayonet.

Valhalla

I don’t understand how that would matter… and it also prevents you from slashing down with it… which the keeps you from doing three attack moves involving buttstock, slash, stab.

Sean

fred; i’m pretty sure the upward-facing bayonet is better for the traditional bayonet-stab-technique, wherein one thrusts your bayonet into your opponent in a kind of out and up motion. i would think that the upward-facing bayonet would make the second part of the stab more lethal. american bayonet-fighting techniques are designed more for slashing and clubbing, hence the downward-facing blade, but i think old russkie doctrine is more about the rush-and-stab (or perhaps the russian stab?).

jdun1911

I don’t know what CZ was smoking when they made the rifle. Not STANAG compatible? Come on even HK understand it.

woodfiend

Looks like a good rifle though. CZ makes great weapons.

Nick

“Come on even HK understand it.”

Dunno. G36s sold pretty well.

Puppe

Steyr AUG and SIG 550-552 rifles don´t use STANAG magazines either. Maybe Czechs just didn´t have faith for the reliability of STANAG magazines.

dogon1013

Is it me, or does that stock look like it folds directly in front of the ejection port?

jdun1911

Nick,

What do you consider good? If it were a great seller why did HK abandon it?

jdun1911

Puppe

I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. Lets use critical thinking skills for a second because I know that the public school system don’t teach it anymore.

STANAG is NATO standards. To become standard everyone must agree on it and it must passed hash requirements. To said STANAG magazines is not reliable is stupid.

Steyr AUG and Sig 550 series of rifles started their design phase before there were standardized magazine. Both rifles IMHO are failures. The AUG has been ditched by Australia SF in favor of the AR15.

CZ S805 more or less dead. Military and LE won’t want to spend the money and room space for overpriced magazines that only work for one rifle.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com Steve

The AUG does can in a version that uses STANAG magazine, although I don’t know of any country which has that model.

Noir

Well, its rifle for Czech forces, not american, therefore its designed to quickly switch(without gunsmith) different magazines wells and cartiges – so there IS stanag version but also G36 one (vz.58 and AK to by the next ones..) – necessary for small army whose soldiers are once in A-stan with Americans and next time with Germans in Kosovo..

XxleoxX

it looks like a very interesting design

john

Upon reading the description and looking at the picture – looks like a modified ACR (Magpul Masada).

For people worried of the rifle not accepting the STANAG mag, I feel that if the rifle does make it to the US market a AR15 lower would be available.

I know I will be getting the AK and AR kits If I can!

PS – I am willing to bet that this will beat the Bushy ACR to market

Mike474

Jdun1911 you really are working on bad information, and its a shame. To be honest I don’t know WHERE you get your supposed “information”. I will try and set you straight. I will keep this response at the mature and high knowledge based level.

First of all the STANAG requirement should mean that it is highly reliable, but in reality it is not. STANAG 5.56×45 magazines are made of aluminum. This is a problem because the feed lips can easily be dented and cause load failures and jams, the thin aluminum body is also prone to denting and causing misfeeds. The sheer number of complaints about the STANAG 5.56×45 by soldiers in the last twenty years is a tip off that something was awry. The flaws of the STANAG 5.56×45 magazine drove the Magpul company to design the 5.56×45 Pmag. But most nations that use STANAG do it for reasons of cost. Cost prohibits many countries from going with a proprietary magazine that would work better in those weapons.

Second point is that both the Steyr Aug and Sig 550 started with much more reliable proprietary magazines due to seeing the flaws in the STANAG 5.56×45. They continue to use these unique magazines. Steyr Aug and Sig 550 failures? Hardly. Both rifles are far more reliable and made to a higher standard of quality than the AR15s. If anything their popularity is increasing. US border patrol and immigration use the Aug as their standard rifle. Australia has NOT replaced the Aug with the AR15 platform.

Next point is this claim that “HK abandoned the G36″. The G36 was never abandoned, they have never stopped production. It is a very popular selling rifle, it is so popular that its been copied or served as the base of other new rifle platforms made by other countries such as Mexico via the FX-05. The polymer G36 magazines are far more reliable than the aluminum STANAG 5.56×45 magazines, and they allow multiple magazines to be clipped together for faster reloading.

The cold war is over, the supreme need for magazine standardization is losing grip. Economics are the new battleground of the world, it is more sensible to make a domestic assault rifle that keeps that money within said country. The benefits are many-fold; using more modern designs, more advanced materials, and too many other benefits to mention. This produces jobs ranging from engineers to factory workers and helps keep a national economy running.

As for the CZ805 being dead? I have to say no, that’s false. The trend in Europe along with the rest of the developed world is for domestic assault rifles, the Indian Insas rifle, Italian ARX-160, Israel’s Tar-21, Mexico’s FX-05, Croatian VHS, Japanese Type 89. The list goes on, but the age when a single kind of rifle like the AR15 or AK platform is used in developed nations is ending.

Dave

Jdun1911,

Stop criticizing Puppe, he is correct. STANAG magazines and the M16 magazine well compromises the reliability of the weapon. One one reason why the XM8 suffered significantly less stoppages than the SCAR-L and HK416 in the army’s dust test is because of a much more reliable magazine. G36 mags holds the mag in the correct position in the mag well and doesn’t shake in the mag well. G36 mags are more durable than USGI mags. Steyr AUG is actually quite a success and is used by many nations. Australian soldiers still use the AUG as their standard rifle. I believe that Australian Spec ops switch to the AR-15 series was because you can’t shoot a bullpup with your weak hand and around corners. SG 550 is not a failure, French military and certain US police departments use it. G36 is also a success and is used by many militaries, it was not abandoned after the HK416. HK416 is offered as an alternative solution to upgrade AR-15 rifles.

Bram

They plan to issue a 14.5″ barrel to regular infantry? 18″ would be far more useful at battlefield ranges.

Mike474

You are right, a 14.5 inch barrel is shortsighted thinking, it may be sufficient for engagements closer than 50 meters where the m855 will fragment reliably, but its not going to be as good as an 18 or 20 inch barrel. Of course I hope they can simply design a quick swap 18 inch or 20 inch barrel and move forward. I think CZ will do the right thing and make an optional 17-20 inch barrel.

Dave

Also, I think the army dust test shows that the G36 mags are more reliable than STANAG mags because the XM8 had much less failure to feed malfunctions than the other rifles. Failure to feed is mostly caused by the magazine although a dirty chamber could have caused it as well.

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